Monday, October 31, 2005

Halloween descends on the City of Angels

That sounds pretty ominous, right?

Well, whatever. What's actually scarier, from my point of view, is that it's approaching 89 degrees on Halloween day here in LA, and I'm already hearing predictions from my co-workers that it will take me more than an hour to get home tonight. Terrifying indeed!

The reason for the traffic is simple. Every year at this time, the ghouls and goblins converge at the intersection of Santa Monica Boulevard and La Cienega for one of the hugest and most amazing outdoor Halloween parties you'll feast your eyes on. And since it attracts folks from miles around, all the neighborhoods within spitting distance of West Hollywood (including both the one where I work and the one where I live) are clogged at every artery.

Last year, Our Woman in LA and I trekked out to the giant bash, with buddies in tow. This year, we're looking for a far more tame All Hallow's Eve. We've got some work to do around the house, and we're relaxing from a long and full weekend.

Saturday saw the end of Steph's show CLOUD CUCKOO LAND at the McCadden Place Theatre in Hollywood, after about an eight-week run. The final performance was one of the best - if not the very best. It was great to see the cast go out with a bang.

Sunday included a memorial service for the mother of Writing Group pal Lis Fies. Lis' mom passed away a couple of weeks back, and about 40 of the family's friends made it out to celebrate both a life well lived and an amazing struggle against cancer (as chronicled in the Eisner award-winning web comic "Mom's Cancer").

On a lighter note, Sunday also gave the wife and me a chance to celebrate Rick Porter's birthday at Mexico City in my neighborhood. Good food and good drinks to punctuate the weekend.

And of course, there were sporting events. So much for my bold predictions that Northwestern might actually stand a chance against Michigan. Indeed, the Mildcats returned to their usual form against the Wolverines, and lost the game in fairly sad fashion.

But at least my other teams sallied forth admirably. Texas spotted Okie State 28 points in the first half, and then came roaring back to win the game in Stillwater, mostly on the back of QB and Heisman candidate Vince Young. Ohio State seems to have mostly bounced back from its losses against Texas and Penn State, pounding Minnesota.

And then of course, the Bengals beat the Packers by a more narrow margin than I would have liked. Not a lot to make southern Ohio proud in that game. Let's see . . . the ugliest uniforms in any professional sport? Check . . . a crazed moronic fan jumping onto the field? Check . . .

Sigh. At least it's a win. I'll take it. I'd just like to see the Bengals make the playoffs.